John Byrne’s TV choices for the week ahead (Dates covered: Sat Sept 27 – Friday Oct 03)
Plenty of new and returning shows including Peaky Blinders and new US drama Forever – while it's goodbye to Imelda May, Ray Donovan and Cilla.
Pick of the week
Peaky Blinders, Thursdays, BBC Two
Birmingham crime boss Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) heads into perilous territory in the second run of Steven Knight’s acclaimed gangster epic. As the 1920s begin to roar, business is booming for the Peaky Blinders gang and Shelby expands his legal and illegal operations. He has his sights set firmly on wider horizons, and the race tracks of the South are calling out for new management. Shelby’s rise brings him into contact with the upper echelons of society - and some new and rather unsavoury adversaries. Things are on the up and rough for Shelby and co.
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Star of the week
Billy Connolly
Who Do You Think You Are? Thursdays, BBC One
For more than 40 years Billy Connolly has been something of a wild man of comedy both on stage and screen. Born in 1942, Connolly has five children and two grandchildren. He’s always believed that his mother’s side of the family was from Ireland, but the records for his great grandmother Mary Doyle show conflicting information. Connolly’s journey starts in Glasgow (where he was born) but to his surprise his story takes him 6000 miles away to Southern India, following in the footsteps of his great, great grandfather Daniel Doyle at the time of the Great Rebellion of 1857. He goes on to discover his great-great-great grandfather John O’Brien was involved in the Siege of Lucknow.
“I'm 71, so I'm a lot closer to death than I am to birth, so I’d like to know where I come from," says Connoly. "I’d like my children to know where I come from. I know so pitifully little.
“The best-case scenario would be to find someone I'm descended from who impressed me by their wildness, whose behaviour I thoroughly approved of - someone I can say, that’s the one.”
Starting this week
Forever, Thursdays, Sky 1
British actor Ioan Gruffudd – last seen in Ringer - dies a lot in this new supernatural drama. He plays Henry Morgan, a top medical examiner in New York who also happens to be immortal. He has no idea why he’s been given this gift-cum-curse, but is determined to unravel the mystery of his existence. The only person aware of Henry’s secret is best pal Abe (Judd Hirsch, Numb3rs), but then a cop comes snooping when a deadly train crash takes place.
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Also starting this week:
The Entrepeneurs, Mondays, RTÉ One
An all-new documentary series that follows a number Ireland’s most successful entrepreneurs as they overcome fear, failure and adversity in pursuit of their ambitious visions.
Detectorists, Thursdays, BBC Four
This is a brand new sitcom – a genre in which the Beeb has struggled for some time - about metal detecting enthusiasts and stars Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones.
Returning this week
Masters of Sex, Fridays, RTÉ Two
As season two opens, and as a result of the fallout from the sex study, Dr William Masters (Michael Sheen) has left Maternity Hospital to look for a place to continue his work now that he and his wife Libby are parents. Although she’s kept her job, suspicions that she was the woman in the study’s sexually explicit film has made Virginia Johnson the target of innuendo and unwanted advances at work. So when Dr. Lillian DePaul can’t come up with the funds to pay her for working on their women’s health study, Johnson starts selling diet pills to make ends meet. As Johnson warns Libby not to force Masters to accept a job he doesn’t want, their clandestine sexual relationship complicates her decision about whether or not to accept Dr Ethan Haas’ marriage proposal and move to California.
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The Saturday Night Show, Saturdays, RTÉ One
Journalist and broadcaster Brendan O’Connor returns for a fifth season of The Saturday Night Show - a lively mix of entertainment, chat, music and lots more.
Ending this week
The Imelda May Show, Sundays, RTÉ One
It's not been a surprise that this show has proved to be a big hit as the formula is proven with Jools Holland on the BBC, Imelda May is a great host, and the music hasn't been bad either. In this first season finale, Imelda's musical guests include Scottish singer Paolo Nutini, Ireland's own Damien Dempsey, legendary US rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson (no prizes for guessing who'll be duetting with her), veteran folk band Altan and singer/songwriter Seraphim Kelly.
Here's Imelda with Jools Holland:
Also ending this week:
Ray Donovan, Tuesday, Sky Atlantic
As things wind up, could Ray’s past finally catch up with him? Mickey and Daryll, meanwhile, discover their loot is significantly less than expected, but Mickey has a plan that sends them to the races. Plus, Abby is torn between Ray and Jim.
Cilla, Monday, UTV
Here's the final episode on this hugely entertaining three-part biopic about Liverpool singer Cilla Black, with Sheridan Smith in knockout form in the lead role.
Drunk, Tuesday, RTÉ 2
Right. If last week's first part of this social experiment didn't put you off the gargle, we'll see how this final part affects your attitude to drink.
Oh You Pretty Things, Wednesday, BBC FOUR
This final episode of this series exploring the relationship between British music and fashion is up to the 1980s - the age of the music video. Expect dreadful clothes and haircuts from the start.
50 Ways to Kill Your Mammy, Monday, Sky 1
Baz and his Mammy are in Cambodia, squeezing in a drive through the jungle, zip-lining and a spot of tarantula hunting - and surviving on a desert island for 24 hours.
Drama of the week
The Blacklist, Fridays, Sky Living
Season two of this fun drama kicks off a few months after the carnage caused by Berlin, with Red (James Spader) trying to figure out how to take out his deadliest enemy alongside managing a new threat from an elusive figure known as Lord Baltimore. There's a new addition to the task force team with Krysten Ritter (Breaking Bad) making a guest appearance as data analyst Rowan Mills, while Mary-Louise Parker stars as Naomi Hyland, a formidable woman with a dark secret and a curious connection to the ex-con, and Mozhan Marnò (House of Cards) joins the cast as a former Mossad agent and incredibly intuitive spy.
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Comedy of the week
The Fear, Mondays, RTÉ Two
This season will see the return of some familiar favourites including Irinka The Russian Streetwalker who has lost her pussy(cat), The Nun and Jimmy the most annoying man in Ireland. There are also some new characters such as Naomi, the poshest English woman in Ireland, and Sergeant Major, who questions what the Irish public are made of; while Fred Cooke gatecrashes a wedding proposal at Electric Picnic.
Here's The Prisoner Prank:
On Demand
Justified, from Wednesday, Sky on Demand
Adapted from Elmore Leonard stories, this is brilliant and if you haven't seen Justified yet, do yourself a major one here with the first four seasons – with season five on the way. Timothy Olyphant stars as an old-fashioned lawman, sent from Miami to track down criminals (mostly relatives of his) in his old Kentucky home town. It's kind of like The Rockford Files in the Appalachians. With crystal meth and JD.
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Documentary of the week
Tommy: to Tell You the Truth, Monday, RTÉ One
A one-hour observational documentary that follows comedian Tommy Tiernan as he takes to the road, travelling across nine European countries including - Latvia, Sweden, Austria and France - on a whistle-stop tour. But this is no ordinary tour. Each night when he steps on stage, Tommy will be improvising from scratch. No preparation. No routine.
Here's Tommy reading from Flann O'Brien:
Film of the Week
The Hardy Bucks Movie, Saturday, RTÉ Two
Based on the award-winning RTÉ comedy, The Hardy Bucks Movie follows the likeable gang of slackers from the West as they set out on a last-minute road trip to watch Ireland compete in the 2012 European Championships in Poland. After an unscheduled stop over in Amsterdam and a run-in with Dutch gangsters, the lads become entrusted with a mysterious package they have to take with them to Poland.
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